


Not Quite Fixed

by Dragoniped



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Team Bonding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-08
Updated: 2019-10-11
Packaged: 2020-11-27 15:54:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20950994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragoniped/pseuds/Dragoniped
Summary: Everybody is broken, some more than others, but they all help keep each other together.





	1. But we're hopeful

**Author's Note:**

> Set season 11, just a bit after Caboose's helmet is fixed.
> 
> [Click Here](https://lilrvb.tumblr.com/post/188218984742) for the mini comic for this chapter.

"It should be fixed now Caboose, there you go." Wash handed over the helmet with a small fond smile, even if it couldn't be seen.

Caboose had sat so patiently while he waited for it to be fixed, or as patiently as he could, fidgeting ceaselessly with a mixture of his endless energy and excitement. It was the first time he'd been this happy in far too long.

Caboose eagerly took the helmet as soon as it was in reach, putting it on once again and delighting in the fact that he could still see this time.

"Thank you Washington!" The words were nearly shouted but Wash couldn't find himself minding - offering a small 'Your welcome' before turning to leave.

He'd only made it a few steps before Caboose called out to him.

"Washinton," he called again, energy seeming to have disappeared from his voice even though the volume remained; it had the odd effect of making Wash feel as though he'd done something wrong.

Before he could reply, having only just turned back around to see if he could determine what was wrong this time (he was hoping it was just another small error), Caboose was speaking again.

"Wash are you okay?"

His first reaction was to laugh - not happily mind, a quiet almost self deprecating chuckle as he wondered the last time he heard those words. It had been a while since they were said by someone that mattered which made it that much harder to simply lie.

"Not really." The statement was quiet but easy to be heard; he might not be running from the truth but accepting it wasn't easy.

"You can tell me what is wrong and I can try to help you like you have helped me."

That fond smile was back again, Caboose was easily a comfortable presence for the ex-freelancer - reassuring in his simplicity.

"It's.. hard to say Caboose. Things always seem to be going so well, they're just so easy that something has to go wrong… but now we're here and things aren't as good but this is our new normal until something either goes right for once or we'll end up in even more trouble."

Caboose's helmet tilted downward, a small action but enough to tell that he was looking at the ground. It didn't take him long to spring back up like a jack-in-the-box.

"It will be fine!" Unsurprisingly, his declaration fell flat.

"What? How can you be sure it-"

"If it is not fine then everybody will make if fine again so we can all be happy." Caboose put his hands on his hips, imitating a power stance he'd seen Carolina do before. "Our friends are amazing! We can definitely make things fine, like you made my helmet fine!"

Wash sighed, shaking his head slowly - there wasn't really a reason to argue. "I suppose you're right." Caboose's hands dropped back to his sides, relaxing at Wash's words.

"I know what will help you feel better!" He ran off quickly into the base, returning only a couple minutes later with a first aid kit. "Where does it hurt?"

"Caboose.. we should really conserve supplies, playing doctor is not a good idea."

"I'm not playing, I want to help. Church said that a first aid kit would fix anything so we didn't need to worry about taking Doc away from his favourite cave if anyone got hurt." He lifted the first aid box a little higher.

"Cave-?"

"So where does it hurt?"

Wash sighed and tapped the side of his helmet; the issue was, of course, in his mind.

Caboose rummaged through the first aid kit, pulling out a couple of blue plasters and gently putting them over the spot. "Here you go, is that better?"

"Yes Caboose," his voice dropped quieter as he smiled again, "thank you."

Evidently, the smile was shared - his beam practically audible in his voice. "You’re welcome Washington!"


	2. But we have faith

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set at the beginning of season 12.

"Sarge, hey…" Wash trailed off, the usual small talk seeming unreasonably distasteful. The updates were always the same: they're moving base; they found no leads; the rebels have attacked; they've attacked - this didn't seem to be ending any time soon. Instead, he sat beside Sarge on his bunk. "Are you.. okay?"

Sarge lifted his head and gave a short huff. "Of course I'm okay, why wouldn't I be?"

Wash almost didn't reply, just watching Sarge go through the actions of cleaning his shotgun: as terrible a leader as he could be, Sarge was actually decent at this sort of maintenance and Wash found it almost comforting to see.

Tucker would always try to show off when doing maintenance - going too quickly that he'd end up dropping parts or completely skipping cleaning important pieces. It wasn't at all impressive but he insisted he could do it; Wash doubted half of them actually passed basic.

Things like this just reminded him how bad it was that they were out there.

"We… we lost that one Sarge. We may have been a bit messed around but we lost and ended up losing half our men in the process - it's normal to not be okay after that."

Sarge slowed slightly, not turning his attention away from his gun.

"Nonsense, they knew what they were getting into and so did I."

"It's not a disservice to you or the troops you trained to say that you're worried, it just shows you care about them."

"They're behind enemy lines with no hope for escape, the ideal situation for a final fight for their lives."

"They'll be fine." It was said more to himself than to Sarge but he still hoped it would be true.

"They'd be better if we’d been able to help them." The response was immediate, clearly not said lightly. They were here because they were captured - for good or for bad, and they couldn't change the past as much as they'd want to.

“We did what we could, now we just have to hope that they do the same. We have to have faith in our team.” 

"We failed them, we could've done better." His shotgun was left now, the conversation taking his full attention.

"We did the best we could do and I don't regret that. Our aim was to get our team out, even if we didn't make it out with them we got most of them out." He couldn't help but look over at Donut, the pink soldier having been the first of the group to fall asleep today.

It was probably harder for him; the relationships between troopmates was different to those with their superiors.

"Our best is to win, it's not over 'till we have. We just have less people on our side now."

"You raised good soldiers, strong soldiers - they might not be the best but they are resilient. I know they'll make it out of this." Wash had seen stronger people fall to less but at times like this you needed hope.

"Except Grif," Sarge interjected, "He's not even half a good soldier even though he's the size of 3 of them… probably too lazy to die." His tone was fond despite the insults - possibly even because of it.

Wash smiled at that, the action only slightly forced. "Probably learnt that from you, in his own way."

"What in Sam Hell-" Sarge, easily rising to the bait, turned to face Wash with a shout - barely managing 4 words before Wash raised his hands in a placating gesture and began to speak again.

"You're easily too strong willed to die, even if you are extremely reckless - Grif is just lazy instead. Then Simmons is too smart to die, Caboose is too strong to die and Tucker.." his hands lowered slightly as he trailed off before shrugging and dropping his hands completely, "you've met Tucker."

Sarge barked out a short laugh, volume dropping when he noticed Donut stir.

"Seriously," Wash began again, almost not wanting to break the nice atmosphere. "We'll all make it through this and we'll get our friends back."

This time Sarge was slow to reply, though his tone retained its earlier warmth. "I never said they were my friends."


End file.
